Harvest index (%)
Procedure of data collection
Data was collected on twelve parameters of the experiment. A brief outline of data collection procedure is given below.
Plant height (cm):
Plant height was measured in centimeter by a meter scale at different stage from the ground surface to the top of the main shoot of the randomly selected five plants from each plot.
Number of branch:
Number of branches of individual plants was counted separately.
Total dry matter:
To measure the total dry matter production of five plants were taken from each plot. The plants were dried in oven at 700c for 72 hours and weighed. The oven dried samples were weighed for dry matter production.
Canopy coverage:
Canopy coverage was measured at different stage. For calculating canopy coverage, at least two diagonal measurements were taken placing a centimeter scale over the canopy of a plant to determine the canopy. Later, radius of the canopy was measured from the diameter and mean value of the radius was used to calculate canopy coverage.
Canopy coverage (cm2) =πr2
Where,
Π=3.14
r =radius of the canopy (cm)
Number of pods plant–1
Pods were separated from sample plants and the total number of pods were counted and recorded.
Number of seeds pod–1
Number of seeds pod–1 was counted and recorded after harvesting of the crop from the ten randomly selected pods from five pre–selected plants.
Hundred seed weight:
Hundred sun dried seeds were counted from the seed stock obtained from the five sample plants of each plot and their weight (g) was taken in by using an electric balance.
Seed yield:
After harvesting, the seed were removed from the separated pods and then dried in sun for 2–3 days. Finally, seed weights were taken of individual plot at 12% moisture content and converted to kg ha–1.
Stover yield:
Stover obtained from each unit plot including the stover yield of five samples was dried in the sun and weighed to record the stover yield of each plot.
Biological yield
The biological yield was calculated with the following formula–
Biological yield= seed yield + stover yield
Harvest index:
Harvest index is the ratio of seed yield (i.e. grain yield) to stover yield and was calculated with the following formula (Gardner et al. 1985).
Harvest index (%) =
x 100